Israeli occupation authorities issued a new military order on Wednesday informing Palestinian residents of plans to seize additional areas of privately owned land belonging to the villages of Shufa and Kafr al‑Labad, in the northwestern West Bank district of Tulkarem, under the pretext of “military purposes.”
According to the notice delivered to the Shufa Village Council, the order targets a total of 29.973 dunams of land located within Basin No. 2 of the two villages.
The areas affected include Dirban, Hafasi, Rokbet Hamad, Wadi al‑Nimir, Wadi Issa, Manzilat Bir Salem, Khallet al‑Sheikh, al‑Manazel, and al‑‘Aqdah.
The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission stated that the Israeli military had already seized the majority of this land in 1977 through an earlier military order. The new decision adds another 217 square meters, bringing the total area under confiscation to approximately 30 dunams.
Land in the Dirban area is among the most threatened by Israeli colonial expansion. Over the years, Israeli authorities have taken large portions of it to establish and expand an illegal outpost linked to the Avnei Hefetz colony, built on land belonging to Kafr al‑Labad, Shufa, and Khirbet al‑Hafasi since 1987.
This latest seizure comes amid an intensifying Israeli policy aimed at appropriating more Palestinian land across the Tulkarem district, particularly in its southern and eastern areas.
Local residents and rights groups warn that the renewed military orders are being used to facilitate further colonial expansion and infrastructure projects at the expense of agricultural land and privately owned Palestinian property.
